Rachel writes about the importance of home, and how -- while the Syrian refugees are forced away from theirs -- we can help make this separation more bearable.

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The scent of dinner cooking on the stove, the familiar rhythms of footsteps on the floor, the way the front door creaks or groans or slams the same way every time, the comfort of your own bed, the nearness of family and neighbors -- it’s hard to name a single thing that makes a place home.

Yet we know when we are there.

And we know when we are not.

Though I suspect my own home looks, sounds, and smells a bit different from the homes left behind by the 4.25 million Syrians who have been internally-displaced by the violence there and another 2.1 million who are now seeking refuge in neighboring countries, it is a shared human experience to long for home, to miss its familiar rhythms and routines. And it must be devastating to see a home wrecked and ravaged by war, the place that was once a refuge suddenly made unstable by violence.

Nothing can replace home. So my dream for the Syrian refugees will not be realized until there is, at last, peace, and 11-year-old Nour can get her wish of returning to her house and school.

But in the meantime, there are things that can make separation from home a little less frightening and a little less disruptive: blankets, hygiene items, accessible food and water, play areas, counselors, and classes so that schoolchildren can pass the day reading and writing rather than falling behind.

A one-time donation to World Vision can help provide these things to a family desperate for some sense of normalcy amid all this chaos.

Though many of us are far away and at a loss for how to respond to this conflict, we can pray for comfort and help provide a blanket. We can pray for health and help provide food vouchers. We can pray for the children and help provide schooling.

And as we walk through our front doors or lie down to sleep, we can pray that the people of Syria, too, will find their way home.

Make a one-time donation to help World Vision provide emergency assistance for Syrian refugees. Your gift will help us deliver basic hygiene kits and food vouchers for refugee families, as well as support initiatives like the remedial education program, helping refugee children continue their education away from home.

Please join us in prayer for all World Vision staff members working around the world, particularly in this region of conflict.